“Take advantage of” means to make good use of an opportunity: a discount, good weather, free time. About a person, it sounds negative: “take advantage of someone” means to use their kindness or trust for your own benefit.
Want to remember take advantage of?
Write a sentence — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
take advantage of + opportunity/offer; take full advantage of + noun; take advantage of + person (negative)
- I took advantage of the free trial to test the app before paying for it.
- During exams, students should take advantage of the library's late opening hours.
- Some colleagues take advantage of him because he never says no to extra work.
What changed
First versionI want to take advantage from the summer sale and buy a new laptop.
RevisionI want to take advantage of the summer sale and buy a new laptop.
“From” can seem logical, because you get a benefit from something. But this expression always takes “of”, whatever follows: “take advantage of the sale”, “of the weather”, “of a person”.
“Use” simply means to use something for its purpose: “I use this app every day.” “Take advantage of” shows that you didn't miss a good opportunity: “I took advantage of the discount.” When someone takes advantage of another person, it is almost always a criticism: “Don't let them take advantage of you.”
Your turn
My flatmate never pays for groceries but always eats my food. I feel he ___ me.
Show the answer
is taking advantage of — The flatmate eats your food and doesn't pay, so he is using your kindness: “is taking advantage of”. “Is taking care of” would mean that he looks after you, and the situation is the opposite.
Write about a discount, a free course or another good opportunity you took advantage of. Say what it was and what you got from it.
Last spring I took advantage of a free online course from my company and learnt the basics of data analysis.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.